All posts tagged: Everlane

Gina Moyano and I first crossed paths six months ago. As I was gearing up for a balmy summer in Atlanta, she was beginning to dream up fresh handbag designs for her luxe collection of sustainable accessories, Chakanu, which she creates in collaboration with a selection of hand-picked artisans in her home country of Ecuador. Through Chakanu Gina combines sustainability and ethical working conditions with modern, high-quality accoutrements. Chakanu is a labor of love born outside of working hours — Gina is a fellow brand manager with an affinity for sustainable practices, and, like me, she cares an awful lot about making things that are good for people and for our planet.

Fall has a way of washing over me like a warm bath after a long day. Swirling around in greens and golds, teasing candle flames with its gentle airs, soaking the senses with firewood and scotch and apple pie — fall is the warm, caramel refrain of your favorite jazz song. The coltish delight of learning something new. The onomatopoeia of uncorking a juicy Willamette Pinot, bone-dry leaves underfoot, the final seconds in a tied football game, yelling out deep breaths of wonderfully cold air.

How to pack for two to three weeks in Europe using a single carry on. Plus my capsule wardrobe packing system, what’s in my bag, a few travel tips, and a handy printable packing list. If broken roller boards, sore shoulders, Zambian baggage fees, and a lone suitcase languishing on the tarmac of the Madrid airport have taught me one thing about exploring this world, it is this: Pack light to travel well. How light? Whether a trip is three days or three weeks my max is a 10 kg / 22 lb duffel bag paired with a little 14L backpack. 22 pounds (plus a small bag or personal item) is the typical limit for carry-on luggage on most smaller airlines. According to backpacking experts, 22 pounds is also on the lighter side of my ideal pack weight, which is 1/4 to 1/6 of my 125 lb total body weight. To me, traveling well means having enough clothes, toiletries, and travel essentials to be comfortable without dragging along anything I could do without. The fewer …

Have you ever tracked your closet? This weekend I audited all of last year’s clothing purchases, and in the process I realized some really interesting things about my shopping habits in the year that followed the Nothing New Challenge. The results make up this cozy lil’ fireside chat and subsequent outfit – what I’m wearing makes up a few of my most worn items of the year. Other favorites included a trusty Patagonia better sweater, Rocksbox jewels, and everything Everlane. To start, I pulled every new piece of clothing into a spreadsheet with rows for each month, as well as columns for product name, cost, retailer; whether the item broke, was returned, sold, or donated; and whether I wore the item every two weeks, once a week, or less than five total times. My least-worn items were from many different retailers but had a few things in common: most were on clearance or were purchased without knowing detailed fit information, while others were for very specific occasions: swimming, fancy parties, running, getting married. Generally speaking, …

Ocean Shores, Washington A week and a half in Washington State was one long sweet, surreal day dream. Our first stop at Ocean Shores unexpectedly introduced us to equine friends: Maggie and Milly. After an afternoon on the beach we were off to Olympic National Forest and idyllic Lake Quinalt for the best salmon nachos in the world. What to pack: Ocean Shores Thrifted Patagonia M Stand Up Short (Also here) Thrifted wide-brim hat (similar on sale at Nordstrom and Amazon) Ray-Ban Classic Aviators in grey-green and gold H by Hudson “Horrigan” Booties (Sizing notes) Bandana (Nordstrom) Ruby Beach, Olympic National Park Next up: The Ruby Beach coast along Washington’s Olympic National Park, which is impossibly expansive and remarkably welcoming. At once you feel tiny, humbled, yet also as if you’re coming home, surrounded by a cathedral of ancient trees, rugged bluffs, and icy tidal pools. It’s the sort of place meant for basking in the warm sun, exploring secret caves, and tumbling over driftwood to unearth little sea creatures. Photo by Caroline Walker Evans …

Labor Day means heading north for a weekend at Big Canoe to share home cooking and football over campfires and Georgia beer with family. And at last… riding boots! Have a wonderful weekend, y’all. Frye Paige Boots (on sale). Bespoke bag designed in collaboration with the wonderful Andover Trask. Quartz necklace from Le Fortune (similar on Etsy). Michael Kors Runway watch. Thrifted Madewell Alley Jeans (true to size), LOFT space dye tee, Ralph Lauren fishing vest. Vintage Ann Taylor belt. Pruning the Roses Sep 13, 2014 The other day I was on our back deck with a cup of coffee when I came eye to eye with one brave little squirrel. Paws covered in peat, she paid me little mind, disregarding the sunshine and the wind in the trees alike as that walnut-sized brain seemed to cry out “Winter, winter, winter!”. We’re not so different there. Lately I’ve kept busy stocking up and storing away, following that seasonal instinct to squirrel away the seeds of ideas and projects as the weather starts to cool …